Bobcats blow 18-point lead, lose in OT to Blazers

Published: Monday, December 3, 2012 at 10:43 PM.

There was some indication the Trail Blazers (8-10) could mount a comeback.

After all, after trailing 20-6 early, Portland caught and passed Charlotte early in the third quarter.

But riding Gordon’s hot hand, the Bobcats were ahead 75-70 entering the fourth quarter and ahead by 18 points twice – at 92-74 and at 97-79.

Notes:

Mullens had a highlight reel dunk early in the game that got the crowd of 12,640 on its feet. After missing a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Mullens corralled the long rebound and had a one-handed slam dunk over Aldridge. Mullens actually thought he’d be called for an offensive foul: “I kind of surprised myself with that one. I didn’t know he was there until Brendan (Haywood) moved out of the way. It was a great screen. He really sealed him. I thought it was going to be a charge. I was happy that I went after the offensive rebound after the shot.”…

When the Bobcats beat Washington on Nov. 24 in their 12th game of the season to improve to 7-5, they became the fastest team in NBA history to match their win total from the previous season. The record had been held by the 1973-74 Philadelphia 76ers, who needed 24 games to win their ninth game after a 9-73 season….

CHARLOTTE – Perhaps it was simply a matter of time before reality set in on the “feel good” start to the Charlotte Bobcats season.

Maybe the Bobcats simply ran out of gas.

Or was it simply an unconventional, hot-shooting lineup by the Portland Trail Blazers that did the Bobcats in.

Whatever it was, Charlotte fell 118-112 in overtime in a game it led by 18 points twice in the fourth quarter, including 97-79 with five minutes to play.

Afterward, everybody was falling on the sword – from coach to player.

“I kind of point the finger at me on this,” said first-year coach Mike Dunlap, whose team lost its fourth straight to fall to 7-9 on the year. “Most of our games have been us coming back or us just holding on. We had a cushion and it was unfamiliar territory.”

In losing, the Bobcats wasted more than just a lead, as Ben Gordon’s historic hot shooting pushed him over the 10,000-point career plateau.

Gordon hit a franchise-record eight 3-pointers – all in the second half – and scored all 29 of his points after halftime.

“BG was hot,” Bobcats forward Byron Mullen said of Gordon. “When he was hot, we had to just keep giving it to him. Everybody was on from the start. We kept it and just there in the last five minutes, we just kinda choked.”

Gordon said he gave the team an emphatic post-game message:

“NBA games are long. I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen and it’s never really over until it’s over. So, when you have that type of advantage on a team, you just have to keep your foot on their neck and try and put them away.”

While the 18-point lead sounds large, it was only the eighth-largest blown lead in franchise history. There have been five blown leads of 20 or more points, the largest coming in the 2005-06 season-opening 109-105 overtime loss in Chicago in which Charlotte held a 25-point lead.

“You can cut this up six different ways,” Dunlap said. “But it’s a painful loss for the guys in the locker room and the coaches.”

There was some indication the Trail Blazers (8-10) could mount a comeback.

After all, after trailing 20-6 early, Portland caught and passed Charlotte early in the third quarter.

But riding Gordon’s hot hand, the Bobcats were ahead 75-70 entering the fourth quarter and ahead by 18 points twice – at 92-74 and at 97-79.

Notes:

Mullens had a highlight reel dunk early in the game that got the crowd of 12,640 on its feet. After missing a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Mullens corralled the long rebound and had a one-handed slam dunk over Aldridge. Mullens actually thought he’d be called for an offensive foul: “I kind of surprised myself with that one. I didn’t know he was there until Brendan (Haywood) moved out of the way. It was a great screen. He really sealed him. I thought it was going to be a charge. I was happy that I went after the offensive rebound after the shot.”…

When the Bobcats beat Washington on Nov. 24 in their 12th game of the season to improve to 7-5, they became the fastest team in NBA history to match their win total from the previous season. The record had been held by the 1973-74 Philadelphia 76ers, who needed 24 games to win their ninth game after a 9-73 season….

Monday’s game was the second of seven home games in 16 days for the Bobcats. They remain home Wednesday against New York before visiting Milwaukee on Friday and hosting San Antonio on Saturday. Other home games in the current home stretch are Golden State (Dec. 10), the L.A. Clippers (Dec. 12) and Orlando (Dec. 15).